Survivor’s Account of Forgiveness During Michigan Church Shooting

The daughter of a victim who was murdered in a violent attack at a Michigan Mormon church described a profound encounter with the gunman, during which she looked directly into his eyes and chose to forgive him, ultimately sparing her own life.

Lisa Louis shared her emotional story, recounting how Thomas Jacob Sanford approached her as she crouched beside her father, Craig Hayden, amidst the chaos. Despite the terror, Louis felt an unexpected sense of calm. She reflected, “When he approached me, I felt peaceful, even kneeling next to my father.”

She described the intense moment: “I stared into his eyes for what felt like a long time. It was as if I glimpsed into his soul. I saw pain, a sense of being lost, and something touched me deeply — I saw into his pain.”

At that moment, Sanford, who had driven his pickup into the church during Sunday service, began firing a rifle at congregants. Louis, miraculously unharmed, continued to look into his eyes and chose compassion over fear. “I answered his question with my eyes, and I forgave him in my heart,” she said. “He saw into my soul, and I saw into his. He allowed me to live.”

She emphasized her belief that her presence was purposeful and felt compelled to share her experience to promote understanding and dispel hatred. “I share this for my father, for myself, and for anyone willing to set aside hate,” she wrote. “If we stop letting anger take hold, hate cannot spread. We have the power to stop it.”

Sanford, a Marine veteran with a history of serving in Iraq, was also a married father of a young son. Despite family and community bafflement over his motives, some reports indicate he harbored strong anti-Mormon sentiments, once calling the religion “the antichrist.”